Rock my world - By Cindi Myers Page 0,49
He’d changed out of his Outback Charlie’s polo into a black button-down shirt. “Are you leaving?” Adam asked. Had his big confession been a complete waste? Had Charlie fired Ray after all?
“My shift’s over. Thanks for taking up for me this afternoon. If it weren’t for you, I’d be out of a job.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I couldn’t let that slide.”
“Sure you could have. Big radio personality. You didn’t have to tell everyone you’d done time.”
Adam rubbed the back of his neck, where a headache was building. “Yeah, well, it’s part of my life. You don’t ever really leave it behind.”
“Tell me about it. So, everything cool? I mean, with your job and everything?”
“It’s all right.” He clapped Ray on the shoulder. “Hang in there.”
“I will. You, too.”
They said goodbye and he stood in the hallway outside the rest-rooms and looked toward the stage. Erica was leading the audience in a singalong to “Margaritaville.” She looked fantastic, dancing around the stage, her face lit by a smile. Watching her, he felt a hollowness in his gut.
Like the ache he had sometimes when he was doing drugs—a wanting so strong he couldn’t fight it. Back then it meant he’d go out and score another hit. But he couldn’t do that with Erica. He had Carl to think about, and the repercussions of the revelation he’d made at dinner.
Worse, a bad feeling dogged him, one he couldn’t push away. What if she didn’t want him anymore?
BY THE TIME they finished at Outback Charlie’s and headed back to the station, Erica had moved from shocked to sad to outright annoyed. Ever since his big revelation about his past, Adam had said hardly two words to her. As if, now that she knew this about him, he was determined to shut her out even further.
Maybe Tanisha was right. Maybe Adam had problems Erica couldn’t solve. Maybe he wasn’t worth wasting so much emotional energy on.
But what about those magic moments in the dark at the Furniture Gallery? She’d seen another side to the aloof intellectual then. She’d discovered a man of great tenderness and passion. A man she wasn’t ready to let go.
She pulled into the parking lot of KROK and sat staring at the building. Adam had gone straight home. Bonnie was probably still flirting with Outback Charlie. That left Erica to drop off the list of e-mail addresses and other paperwork from the gig. Not that she minded. The last thing she wanted right now was to go home to her empty apartment, where she’d do nothing but worry about Adam.
Would he be at home worrying about her? Or was he truly that rare person who preferred to be alone? He had cultivated that image, but, having glimpsed another side of him at the Furniture Gallery, she wasn’t so sure.
There had to be some way to get through to him. Damn Carl’s stupid rule. What job was worth being miserable during your time off? She got out of the car and headed toward the building, an idea growing in her mind. If she wasn’t having any luck pursuing Adam at work, maybe it was time to move to less neutral territory. Away from work, he wouldn’t be able to hide behind the microphone, or use their unseen listeners as an excuse for not admitting his true feelings.
With this in mind, she headed down the stairs, where she found Tanisha packing up to head home. “I hope you haven’t shut down your computer yet,” Erica said.
Tanisha looked up from stuffing papers into an overflowing tote bag. “I have. Why?”
“I need you to find Adam’s home address for me.”
“I’m not supposed to give out employees’ personal information,” she said, even as she hit the button to reboot her computer.
“I won’t tell a soul.” She dragged a chair over beside Tanisha’s and studied the monitor.
“So what’s up with you two?” Tanisha said. “On air, everything sounds copasetic.”
Erica shook her head. “On the air, we get along great. But he refuses to have anything to do with me outside of the show.”
“Wait a minute. I thought you two really hit it off.” The desktop screen came up and she selected the database program.
“We did. Even he admits that. But there’s Carl’s stupid rule about on-air personalities not dating.”
Tanisha nodded. “He doesn’t want to risk his job. Something maybe you should think about.”
“I’ve thought about it, and I still don’t see why I can’t have the job I want and the man I want.”
“So this is